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Turner South
Turner South is an American cable and satellite television network that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of WarnerMedia and operated by BLT Communications. At its peak, Turner South reached approximately eight million subscribers across a six-state region comprising Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, and portions of western North Carolina (roughly from Asheville to Charlotte). Ten years following the original network's original air date before being sold to Fox Cable Networks, Turner Broadcasting announced the relaunch of Turner South, this time as a national network rather than a regional network. History The channel launched on October 1, 1999 as the first regional entertainment network developed especially for viewers in the southern United States. Turner South's programming consisted of a mix of movies, drama series, sitcoms, regional news updates, and unique original programming. It also carried telecasts of professional sporting events from the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball, Atlanta Hawks NBA, and Atlanta Thrashers NHL franchises, all of which were owned by the Turner Broadcasting System at the network's launch. Turner South's original programs could be broadly termed "southern lifestyle", including cooking and gardening shows. The sitcoms and dramas featured on the network (such as Major Dad and In the Heat of the Night) also tended to appeal to Southerners, or were set in the South. Other series included Liars & Legends and Off The Menu which was based out of the Commander's Palace restaurant in New Orleans. Beginning in 2002, the channel also aired a live simulcast of radio program The Rick and Bubba Show. News Corporation Lawsuit News Corporation filed a lawsuit against Turner Broadcasting and its corporate parent Time Warner in a Georgia Superior Court on June 15, 1999, citing that the plans Turner had unveiled to carry sports events on Turner South violated a non-compete agreement that the two companies signed as part of News Corporation's $65 million purchase of SportSouth (now Fox Sports South) in 1996, which prohibited Turner from launching a regional sports network in the southeastern United States until 2008. The suit was settled out of court with undisclosed terms. Sale to Fox On February 23, 2006, Fox Cable Networks, a subsidiary of News Corporation, agreed to purchase Turner South, for a reported $375 million. On May 1, 2006, Fox took over operations of the cable network, and the bulk of the Turner South schedule, including Rick and Bubba and the movie blocks, was discontinued. During the brief transition period which followed, repeats of Turner South's lifestyle and how-to programming (including Blue Ribbon, Home Plate, Home Makers, and Junkin') were aired in two weekday blocks( from 8:00-11:00 a.m. and 3:00-5:00 p.m. ET). Much of the remaining programming was repurposed from various Fox Sports Networks properties, most notably Fox Sports South. On October 13, 2006, the network was officially relaunched as a second iteration of SportSouth, and was eventually renamed Fox Sports Southeast in October 2015. It now operates in tandem with Fox Sports South. Relaunch On Aug. 10, 2016, Turner Broadcasting Services (now under the operation of Time Warner, now WarnerMedia), announced plans of relaunching Turner South, but instead of being a regional network, the plan was to make it a national network. Turner then announced that BLT Communications would be handling the day-to-day operations. Programming Just as it was before, Turner South is the home of The Rick & Bubba Show, which airs weeknights at 11 PM EST (10 PM CST). Turner South also airs programming based tended to appeal to Southerners, or were set in the South. Beginning in 2017, Turner South will be airing sports programming, with the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), and continuing to the summer with the Pacific Coast League. Turner South's morning program is simply titled: Biscuits & Gravy. Programming Schedule Beginning in January, Turner South will begin their coverage of the Southern Professional Hockey League on Thursday and Friday nights. Beginning in April, Turner South will begin their coverage of the Pacific Coast Baseball League with games airing on Saturday afternoons. Affiliates If your network wishes to be affiliates of Turner South, feel free to add your station to the table. Keep in mind that the table is in alphabetical order. Category:Fictional television networks Category:Turner Broadcasting System Category:Time Warner Category:BLT Communications Category:Television channels and stations established in 2016 Category:Atlanta, GA Category:Georgia Category:WarnerMedia